HR0046 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0046 LRB103 29539 LAW 55934 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Larry Rogers Sr., who passed away on January 19, 2023; and

WHEREAS, Larry Rogers grew up on the far South Side in the Roseland community of Chicago; he received his education in Catholic schools and excelled in academics; he was accepted into law school after graduating college but was forced to put his legal career on hold due to a health issue; and

WHEREAS, Larry Rogers left law school to work three jobs to care for his family, including working as a respiratory therapist; one of his two other jobs included working at a gas station across the street from Comiskey Park, where he began a 40-year friendship with a regular customer named Joe Power, a young attorney who encouraged him to complete law school, which he did; they later formed the personal law and medical malpractice law firm, Power Rogers, LLP; and

WHEREAS, During his nearly four-decade legal career, Larry Rogers would emerge as a mastermind in the courtroom, winning hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts for victims of medical malpractice, motor vehicle negligence, and aviation accidents; in 1985, he won a $27 million product liability verdict, the largest personal injury victory in Illinois history at the time, for families who had been wronged by Syntex, a baby formula company that sold chloride-deficient formula that affected the intellectual development of babies, shortly after the Department of Justice declined to press charges against the company; in 2000, he helped win a $55 million verdict, one of the largest in Illinois history, for a woman who suffered irreversible brain damage during a bronchoscopy exam; he paid his success forward in mentorship, guidance, and support of Black students and attorneys who had long been excluded from the legal world; and

WHEREAS, Larry Rogers previously served as the president of the Cook County Bar Association and was the first Black president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association; he was named one of the top 500 trial lawyers in the nation; and

WHEREAS, Larry Rogers was an avid sports fan, holding season tickets for the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Bears; he also enjoyed taking his Sea Ray sport boat out on Lake Michigan and occasionally to Florida or the Bahamas for vacations, often bringing along family, friends, and even other attorneys; and

WHEREAS, Larry Rogers was a trailblazer who served as a role model for generations of lawyers and helped the Black community defend its most vulnerable members; he devoted his life to the Black community, his family, and the passion of building a more equitable justice system in the United States; he was generous and eager to spread joy to those he loved; above all, he was a dedicated and loving father and grandfather; and

WHEREAS, Larry Rogers is survived by his life partner, Pam Anderson; his children and stepchildren, Larry Jr., Dom, Anne Marie and Frederic; his nieces and nephews; and his grandchildren; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Larry Rogers Sr. and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Larry Rogers as an expression of our deepest sympathy.